Tolerance cannot be measured in terms of degrees of intolerance. I am essentially opposed to burning books even when they incite others to violence. But freedom is either an absolute or it is conditioned on not inciting others to violence. Anything else is rationalized bigotry.

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Friday, March 18, 2016

Censorship and University Life under threat

Censorship worries many of us
but in a world of prejudice it would be easy to simply ban uncomfortable speech.
In a recent report it was revealed that
there has been a 61% rise in antisemitism in the British capital city and that
a majority of French Jews are now considering emigrating.France is no longer a safe place to
live if you are Jewish. According to that same report over 40 percent of EU
citizens hold antisemitic views.In the United States, 75% of Jewish
students have experienced antisemitism in their college.

It would be so easy to flee
from faith. It is not nearly as easy to fight prejudice and the antisemites who
in the interest of free speech celebrate their passionate engagement by
renouncing their opponent’s freedoms.Jewish Uncle Toms are particularly enthusiastic about proscribing their coreligionists constitutional rights.Freedom of Expression and Freedom of Association is being curtailed
across the Western World so that fascism may impose its views on us all.

The Soviet
Union collapsed under the weight of its own contradictions and
lies. Communist China had to adopt a market economy to forestall collapse and
even then in order to catch up economically with the West it has had to impose
hard labor on large numbers of its own people.North Korea
is an abomination that can only survive through infusions of Chinese
cash and the liberal use of concentration camps to keep its terrorized
citizenry from rebelling against its military tyranny.Venezuela, once viewed as the model
for South American leadership and enlightened rule could only survive under its radical
left wing charismatic leadership through its suppression of the opposition. Massive food bribes at election time were with-held from anyone suspected
of wanting to vote the wrong way.So the
Progressive left (and the term is interchangeable with ‘radical’) understands
that it has to control the narrative and suppress any opposition in order to
have a realistic chance of maintaining power.

The radical left is bereft of
honesty because its own survival always takes precedence over the truth. In its
desperation for self-validation it resembles a religion, and like any faith in
the early stages of its’ mythological creation it is bought at the expense of a
blood sacrifice. In this new religion, the radical left continues to demand and
is incapable of letting go of that blood sacrifice.Its antisemitic origins have blinded it to
its bigotry. The original sin of the ‘progressive’ left’s intellectual, antisemitic
birth has been espoused by far too many guardians of its ideological purity. It
is an easy narrative, familiar to the general population and therefore, an easy
key to opening the minds of its more receptive potential converts.

Its political theology makes
its easier to understand just how little distance separates Islamic State and
other fundamentalist fascist organizations from the so called progressive left.Those who gravitate towards these racist
demagogues are only comfortable with a non-nuanced approach to life. They need
simplicity as validation of their own identity.As a consequence of this approach they are able to renounce human rights
to any, save a selective few, as a vehicle for defining who is a friend and
who, an enemy.In this way they can
ignore the stench of their cohort’s often genocidal ideology.

I read an interesting article
in Ynet news about Hillel.This is
primarily, an American and Jewish university club.Its aim is to “engage Jewish students in religious, cultural, artistic,
and community-service activities” (Wikipedia). As the survey referred to in the
first paragraph proves, clearly antisemitism on campus exists. Hillel,
crucially, exists to provide a safe-haven and a familiar home for people who
need it.But there is a new fascist
conspiracy to undermine and ultimately, to obliterate free speech and it is
called “Open Hillel.”

Open Hillel is an initiative
that claims to allow for more open criticism of Israel and Zionism.In reality it is one more fascist instrument
of control through which any criticism of anti-Jewish and anti-Zionist
organizations is first rebuked and then by denying Jews the rights that their
opponents demand, prohibited.By undermining
Jewish rights and creating a hostile environment for Jewish association the
Muslim and anti-Semitic Left are trying to muzzle Jews on campus.By working to censor the visual Jewish
presence on campus, fascism defines truth and controls narrative.

“On many campuses in the US, there are many groups like Students for
Justice in Palestine
(SJP), Islamic associations, Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), and many others.
They have a lot of power. They act, sometimes with violence, against Israelis
coming onto campuses. Sometimes it's just because they're Israeli, regardless
of their opinions. This phenomenon is called a boycott. The members of these
groups, most of whom support the BDS Movement, are the ones behind a campaign
to silence other opinions. So an interesting thing is happening here - in order
to strengthen "openness" and "inclusion," we seek to open
the door to those who use violence against openness.

Facing all of these groups, on some of the
campuses, there is one group - only one - Hillel, which is trying to give
Jewish students one space - just one - that would be clean of anti-Semitic,
anti-Zionist and anti-Israeli propaganda. The three are not always the same
thing. In recent years, differences between them have eroded. And now, there
are those who seek to take away even this small space, so the exact same
anti-Israeli opinions are voiced again - those already voiced over and over
again everywhere else.”

Yemini also points out that activists
and lecturers refuse to sanction opposition opinions, they silence any
pro-Jewish or pro-Israel voices that even try to attend their events and they
intimidate anyone who attempts to stand up to them.

For ‘boycott’ we should
understand that this means physical censorship, intimidation and denial of a (pro-Jewish)
right to free speech and association.Visualize
wife-beaters and proponents of choice demanding as their familial, cultural or
democratic right, the right to abuse women; as well as unfettered access to the
Women’s refuge.Picture the pedophile who
asserts the right to be given a role in looking after children.Imagine radical right wingers seeking control
of Democrat facilities at election time (USA)
or permanent control of Labor Party and Trade Union’s communications media (UK).No amount of dissimulation can conceal the
rhetoric and sophistry that is meant to shut down debate in a secure
environment.That right to a secure
environment is the purpose our universities serve. It is under threat if you are the wrong kind of Jew.

These organizations represent
the modern face of fascism.They are
against free speech; they are completely closed to any opinion that is at
variance with their own opinion.Intimidation and violence are what they use if the legal stuff
fails.They are truly, worthy successors
to 1930’s, 1940’s (and 1950’s) bigotry and if they are not defeated outright they
will return us to a similar age of darkness and despair.